Holomisa wants to be deputy president

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has expressed a desire to be deputy president of the country.

Addressing his supporters in Port Elizabeth where he was unveiling his party's election manifesto, Holomisa said he wanted to occupy the east wing (office of the deputy president) of the Union Buildings in the event that this year's election does not have an outright winner.

Holomisa said if the May 8 election resulted in the formation of a coalition government, he wanted to be its deputy president.

"If the 2019 national and provincial elections should deliver no outright winner, as predicted by political pundits, the question of a national coalition arises.

"They (ANC) call us first when they have a problem, they must know this time that if they want the UDM to be part of a coalition, these are the conditions. We are not people who will just accept ministerial positions, as they (ANC) are competing for the presidency. They must give us the east wing office, where DD Mabuza sits, we want to deputise and you will see if we will not arrest these corruption thieves," Holomisa said.

Holomisa said the UDM believed that a coalition government should be regulated to ensure it fulfilled the wishes of voters.

"The UDM also believes that one of the basic principles that should inform coalition government is that it represents the wishes of the voters. Hence it is important that coalition partners iron out their relationships directly after elections and publish their compacts so that voters clearly understand how that coalition will work and also to have a set of standards to measure the coalition government’s performance," he explained.